re-linking

[Shane Ross]

On the root level of the drive, needs to be the Avid MediaFiles folder…that exact name. Then MXF folder. Then 1, 2, 3..etc.

Exactly in that order.

Shane
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[Jon Felix]

Hello again Shane,

They are … all exactly as you specify … still wont link. So I tried quitting and restarting the project (from the new location) and now I get DISK_DIR_NOT_FOUND ..and the project doesn’t load….. arrrgh!

Jon Felix
RAINDOG MOTION PICTURES
Los Angeles

[Russell Anderson]

As Shane said, make sure the folder structure is the way he stated. So HARDDRIVE/Avid MediaFiles/MXF/1.

But assuming you just copied the media over like you said, I’ll bet you already did that.

Sometimes there’s just a goof in the database, especially when you’re shuttling media. So just refresh the database by killing the database files. Close Avid (just to be safe, you can minimize/hide it too if you want). Find “msmMMOB.mdb” and “msmFMID.pmr” in “Avid MediaFiles/1” and delete them. If you have more than one media folder (the 1, 2, 3, 4, etc folders), then you need to do the same thing in each folder. Reopen Avid and the databases should auto-refresh.

Hope that helps!

August Anderson

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[Russell Anderson]

Hmm, if you had both drives plugged in and then unmounted one and didn’t restarted Avid entirely (quit and reopen), then it might freak out a bit…

August Anderson

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[Jon Felix]

Thanks for taking the time to reply August … tried what you suggested but it made no difference (and I still got the DISK_NOT_FOUND error). Then I found this on an AVID site:

“This is a BUG ! If the project folder is not sitting on your system drive (C: in PC speak I guess – though I am on Mac), then you get that error DISK_NOT_FOUND etc.”

So I moved the project folder to the system drive (in users/Shared/AvidMediaComposer/Shared Avid Projects) which made the error go away but everything was still offline. Do I now have to move all the other folders to the root of the system drive? Guess I’ll try that if I have enough room – but sorry guys, I am thinking now that AVID is c*#p! compared to Premiere Pro, or even FCP7. An expensive mistake.

Jon Felix
RAINDOG MOTION PICTURES
Los Angeles

[Russell Anderson]

Haha, don’t jump on the anti-Avid bandwagon yet. Anyone switching to anything from anything is going to say that about… well.. anything. When I was on Premiere, I had to adjust to it’s quirks, same in FCP7, and then in Avid. I’ve found that once I’ve adjusted, the workflow is faster, smoother, and more conducive to creativity because you’re not dealing with media issues as much.

So let’s see if we can get you over this hump.

I’m a MacOS Avid editor, and I never put my projects on the system drive. In fact, Avid 6.0+ and Mountain Lion block you from even using your system drive from editing (you can turn it off, of course).

Here are a few basic troubleshooting things that we should check first… What version are you using? Did you create NEW user settings or did you import the user settings from an older version of Avid?

Don’t move your media to your internal/system drive.

August Anderson

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[Russell Anderson]

ALSO, something you should definitely do.

So you took my advice earlier and deleted the Database files. Launch Avid. Did it scan?

If it scanned the media, go back to the media drive, make sure the Database files are created and are there.

This CONFIRMS that Avid is seeing your media. If not, then there’s a bigger issue.

If Avid DID recreate the database files, go to TOOLS dropdown, go to MEDIA TOOL. Select ALL projects, and then only select the drive your media is on. Then select master clips. You should get a bunch of media on the drive. If you can click and open your master clips, you know avid is seeing everything and something else is going on.

Did you have any rendered effects? Might be an issue with reconnecting renders too. You might have to just render your sequence again… haha.

August Anderson

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[Jon Felix]

Hi August,

Thankyou so much for taking the time to help me through this. I really appreciate it….
To answer your questions:

I am using AVID MC6. User settings were mine from AVID MC5.5.

I would never normally put stuff on the internal drive either … just that I will do anything to get rid of the stuttering playback (other post) … assuming that I can get the bloody media back on-line. (I was attempting to move the project to my Thunderbolt raided drive).

I did delete the Database files as you suggested. It did rescan.

I removed the project folder from the internal hard drive, tried to start from the project folder on the Thunderbolt drive, but once again the project would not open saying DISK_DIR_NOT_FOUND, so I put it back again (but with all the other folders on the Thunderbolt drive).

This time some of the sequence was on-line and some not. The media tool revealed a lot of on-line media – but no listing for the shots that were off-line. I tried ‘re-linking’ the sequence and the individual shots, and bins but nothing happened.

I also re-rendered everything …..

In FCP, you just highlighted a clip in the timeline (or bin) and right clicked to get an option saying ‘reconnect’. Then you could point at the file and it would be instantly back on-line. Is there really no way of doing this with AVID? This would be really be a deal breaker for us as we are constantly cloning drives and moving things around and consequently having to reconnect projects to different source drives.

Thanks again for your time August.

Jon Felix
RAINDOG MOTION PICTURES
Los Angeles

[Russell Anderson]

Can you CONFIRM the media is on the drive? (such an obnoxious question, I know, but all signs seem to point to the media not being there). Can you find a clip in your project and then find the file it should be linking to?

You opened this project on the other drive, checked it, tested it, then copied the media, sent the drive back, opened the new project/media, and this happened?

Also, I’ve never used a thunderbolt drive before. Is there ANY possibility that some weird protocol isn’t playing nice with Avid? Maybe copy 20 or so MXF files over to a different drive to see if that’s the issue.

As for the settings, try making new settings in 6.0. See if that resolves anything at all. Sometimes carrying your settings over from previous versions does absurdly and inconsistently weird things. I’ve had tons of problems all across the boards, only to find out that it was my user settings that I carried over from a previous version. Avid advises that you don’t just import old settings, but instead make new settings, open your old settings, and drag over just the important stuff like the keyboard.

Honestly, the drive error when opening the project is really strange. I’ve never heard of that error in the situation you’re having. Are permissions on the drive set correctly?

Media management is normally Avid’s strong point. I know assist’s who spend almost all their time dealing with mismanaged FCP media. I used to be one of them. Avid has never been short of plug-and-play media for me.

Also, there’s a RELINK tool in one of the dropdown menus. I have a feeling you’ve already tried that. That’s the traditional way to relink media.

August Anderson

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[Jon Felix]

Once again I appreciate your time August. I should buy you a pint sometime (that’s how us Brits show our appreciation: in beer): I think we are in the same town …

Anyway I will get back to you regarding your further suggestions .. you might be on to something .. meanwhile I am approaching the problem sideways, so to speak, by starting a new project (which I have to anyway). I wanted to use the same fast TB drive and was wondering about the Avid MediaFiles folder which is sitting on the root. Does the new project also have to have a similar folder, also on the root? If so – should I temporarily rename the other one? This all seems a bit clumsy – normally I would have a master folder for each project.

Thanks mate,
jon

Jon Felix
RAINDOG MOTION PICTURES
Los Angeles